Under the terms of a sponsored research agreement between
the parties, Ezose will receive as much as $390,000 from Fast Forward to
support the project.

To execute the research program, Ezose is collaborating with
Dr. Anthony Reder, a professor of neurology at the medical campus of the
University of Chicago. Their research goal will be to discover new biomarkers
associated with MS to enable earlier, more accurate diagnosis of the disease,
improve prognosis, aid in therapy selection and evaluate response to therapy.
Other, related goals will be to distinguish MS from other neurological
disorders and to use the biomarkers to identify subtypes of MS.

Ezose and Fast Forward also noted that the biomarker
research should help in guiding the development of new MS therapies by
increasing the speed and efficiency of research and development efforts.

"Independently, Ezose also began building an interest and
knowledge base in MS through discussions with other parties and review of the
literature, which hinted that our glycomics approach could be especially
relevant to this disease," Siegel explains. "It was through these independent
discussions that we were introduced to Dr. Anthony Reder, a recognized expert
in this field at the University of Chicago Medicine. In 2011, Ezose was then
invited to apply for funding through a Fast Forward program focused on
developing new tools and technologies for use in MS clinical research and
development and clinical monitoring."

Ezose applied for that funding in close collaboration with
Reder, Siegel says, and that ultimately lead to the announced agreements with
both Fast Forward and the University of Chicago Medical Center, which was
rebranded this year so that it will be called—publically though not legally—the
University of Chicago Medicine.

"We at Ezose are contributing a unique technology suite that
promises to make glycan analysis an important contributor to medical advances,"
Siegel explains, while Reder is contributing his clinical insights and clinical
samples he has collected in the course of his work at the University of Chicago
Medicine. "And Fast Forward is contributing its financial resources and its
experience in bringing together academic researchers and emerging biotechnology
companies to accelerate the development of products for MS diagnosis and
therapy," Siegel adds.

The short-term goal is to identify glycan biomarkers for
MS—specific glycans and glycan patterns associated with MS and its subtypes,
Siegel notes. "The long-term goal is to develop these biomarkers into
diagnostic tests that could be broadly used in diagnosing and managing MS," he
says. "There are times when a biomarker can also serve as a drug target, and
we'll follow the path of discovery where it leads us. But right now the
definite focus is diagnostics."

"This alliance with Ezose is another example of Fast
Forward's commitment to identifying promising technology and novel treatment
approaches to bridge the gap between research discoveries and product
development that will speed efforts to stop MS, restore function and end the
disease forever," said Dr. Timothy Coetzee, chief research officer of the
National Multiple Sclerosis Society, in the news release about the deal.

As Ezose explained in that same news release, its GlycanMap
technology enables the study of glycomics via automated analysis of the sugar
molecules known as glycans that attach to proteins in the body and affect their
biochemical function. The speed and high throughput of this technology, the
company says, hold the potential to discover new biomarkers and targets that
can improve the diagnosis and management of disease, as well as enhance the
efficiency of development of new therapeutic options.

"This alliance brings to MS research an approach that has
never been explored before," Siegel says. "Others have reported in the
scientific literature that changes in glycans may be among the earliest
molecular changes associated with MS. So glycans could be particularly good
candidates for diagnostics development."

Until recently, however, the obstacle to pursuing this line
of investigation has been the relatively slow and laborious lab techniques that
were available for glycan analysis, he adds.

"That analysis, and the field of glycomics generally, lagged
behind genomics and proteomics because of the lack of high-throughput methods
to study complex sugars like glycans," Siegel continues, adding that the
GlycanMap platform deals with this problems by enabling the fast,
high-throughput analysis that has been needed to better understand the role of
glycans in health and disease.

"The platform combines advanced glycan sampling and
separation methods, mass spectrometry and custom bioinformatics. It is being
applied not only to MS research but also to other disease areas including cancer
and diabetes," he says.

Fast Forward, DioGenix collaborate on blood-based MDx
test for MS

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—Fast Forward also announced in November an
alliance with DioGenix Inc. to develop a novel blood test for multiple
sclerosis (MS).

Fast Forward will provide up to $500,000 as part of a
sponsored research agreement that will enable DioGenix to expand an ongoing
clinical trial of its MS diagnostic, MSPrecise, a proprietary next-generation
sequencing assay that measures changes to the adaptive immune system by
analyzing B cells isolated from cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). This funding will
allow DioGenix to determine if the same approach will work in blood samples.

MSPrecise uses next-generation sequencing to measure DNA
mutations found in rearranged immunoglobin genes in B cells isolated from CSF.
These mutations are a result of the adaptive immune system's response to a
perceived challenge to the patient.

The changes in the B cell DNA correspond to the production
of diverse antibody libraries aimed at fighting the perceived foreign invader.
It is believed that the specific mutational changes observed in patients with
MS are different from those observed in patients with similar neurological
diseases because the antigens recognized by the antibodies are different.
MSPrecise would augment clinicians' current standard of care for diagnosis of
MS, providing measurement of changes in B cell DNA as compared to the currently
available test that merely measures the presence of immunoglobin G proteins in
the CSF.

"Our collaboration with Fast Forward will allow us to more
rapidly develop new tests that can have a profound impact on the lives of
people living with MS. With this important funding, we can extend the utility
of our already reliable CSF-based MSPrecise assay into blood, providing an
additional option for the use of our test by clinicians as part of their
routine work-up of patients who are struggling with non-specific neurological
symptoms," said Larry Tiffany, CEO of DioGenix, in a statement.